Answer Man: What was Biltmore Industries? Why no impact fees in Asheville, Buncombe?

The Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum is open from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. The museum is closed January-March. The museum also offers guided history tours at 1 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, which includes a visit to the historic dye house, usually off limits to the public. Tours are free and last about 45 minutes.(Photo: John Boyle/jboyle@citizen-times.com)

Question: I was recently at the Grove Park Inn and spent a little bit of time at Antique Car Museum and the Biltmore Industries Museum devoted to the history of the wool cloth that was made on those grounds. They are both fascinating places. Regarding the fabric museum, how long was it a functioning industry? How many individuals worked there? Is there any information available on how much fabric was produced? What type of income did workers make?

My answer: I never thought I'd utter these words, but here you go: The fabric museum is indeed really fascinating.

Real answer: You may recall I answered the first part of this question, about the car museum, yesterday. Today, we're looking at Biltmore Industries.

The Biltmore Industries museum is next door to the car museum, and they are all part of Grovewood Village, an 11-acre site featuring six vintage buildings that once housed a craft industry where workers made “homespun,” a hand-loomed wool cloth with origins in the local Appalachian culture.

Called Biltmore Industries, it operated through much of the 20th century.

"Biltmore Industries grew out of a little craft 'school' that was started in 1901 by Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, which soon caught the attention of Edith Vanderbilt," said Ashley Van Matre, marketing manager at Grovewood. "The initial focus was woodworking, and the enterprise was called Biltmore Estate Industries (originally located in Biltmore Village). The weaving program was instituted in 1906."

Fred Seely, the visionary behind the Grove Park Inn and son-in-law of its owner, E.W. Grove, bought the Industries from Edith Vanderbilt in 1917 and dropped the word "Estate." Biltmore Industries also was relocated to where Grovewood Village is housed today, adjacent to the Grove Park Inn.

"At its peak in the 1920’s, Biltmore Industries produced about 950 yards of fine woolen homespun a day and employed 75–100 workers," Van Matre said. "Depending on the width, weave, and weight of the fabric purchased, the price for the woolens ranged from $1.25 to $4.85 per yard in 1917, maintained through the 1940’s. In modern terms, these prices equate to $16.29 to $63.20 per yard."

"Fred Seely also paid his men to learn new weaving patterns, around $1 a day," she added. "High yardage producing weavers could potentially earn upwards of $30 a week in 1929."

Local car dealer Harry Blomberg bought the operation in 1953. Biltmore Industries remained in operation until it closed in 1981.

By the way, one of the old buildings still has a bunch of the old looms, wringers and other equipment in it, and you can take a guided tour, at 1 p.m. Wednesdays–Saturdays. Tours are free and last about 45 minutes.

The Biltmore Industries Homespun Museum is open from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. The museum is closed January-March. The museum also offers guided history tours at 1 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday, which includes a visit to the historic dye house, usually off limits to the public. Tours are free and last about 45 minutes.(Photo: John Boyle/jboyle@citizen-times.com)

Question: Why in the Sam Hill are the city of Asheville and Buncombe County not implementing impact fees like a lot of states do? All new developments pay according to size and scope up front. With all the developers descending on Asheville like locusts it only seems reasonable. Wanna play, gotta pay! It gives taxpayers a break and only makes sense. With out of control growth, Asheville is quickly being loved to death.

My answer: For the record, developers are descending like 17-year cicadas.

Real answer: This one is pretty simple, really.

"We’re not allowed," said Jon Creighton, assistant county manager for Buncombe. "Some water and sewer authorities can do it, but we would have to get special permission from the legislature to do that, and nobody has gotten that permission in a long time."

In North Carolina, a municipality or county has to get approval for impact fees from the state legislature, and the legislature doesn't like handing out that ability.

In fact, the Associated Press reported this week that the General Assembly just stripped the right of Orange County "to impose fees on new residential construction to help pay for anticipated schools and other infrastructure after legislators accused local officials of abusing their authority with high rates."

The AP reported that "two other counties and about 20 municipalities still have authority to assess impact fees." Asheville and Buncombe are not among them.

The North Carolina Homebuilders Association, which has actively fought impact fees for years, notes that most impact fees were established in the late 1980s. The group opposes them because the fees ultimately are passed on to home buyers, and they contend that development pays for itself, as it spurs growth and more taxes, among other reasons.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. Contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com